


Every Breaking Wave

by CosmicBlueMoon



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sad Harry, Song Lyrics, U2 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 19:45:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14268231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicBlueMoon/pseuds/CosmicBlueMoon
Summary: « Do you ever think about…about.. Leaving it all behind? »The question hangs in the air for a little while. The soft crackling of an old Eagles vinyl on the deck is the only sound of Niall’s flat for a minute.« Like disappearing from the face of earth for awhile..Like..Not being you. »____________Or, Niall would do anything to make Harry happy again.





	Every Breaking Wave

_Every breaking wave on the shore_  
_Tells the next one there'll be one more_  
_And every gambler knows that to lose_  
_Is what you're really there for_

 

« Do you ever think about…about.. Leaving it all behind? »

The question hangs in the air for a little while. The soft crackling of an old Eagles vinyl on the deck is the only sound of Niall’s flat for a minute.  
They’re sitting on the black leather couch, in Niall’s Londonian fancy flat, facing each other. Harry’s feet are propped on Niall tights, the blonde’s right hand running on one of his skinny legs, while the left is holding the neck of a beer bottle.  
The dim light of the living room makes Harry’s face hard to read. He kinda seem sad but Niall can’t exactly pinpoint what’s wrong with his best friend.  
Niall learned all the « Styles moods » through the years, he became an expert.  
To the point of, when anybody on the team couldn’t deal with the brunette, they would call him to the rescue.

Niall drink a little of his beer before asking quietly :  
« What do you mean ? »

« I mean.. » Harry observe another pause, holding his breath.  
« Like disappearing from the face of earth for awhile..Like..Not being you. »  
Harry takes another deep breath.  
«  Not being recognized every time you step out of your home. Without everyone expecting from you to be.. You. »

Harry’s eyes drop on his lap, where he’s fidgeting his phone. Niall tries to make eye contact but Harry stubbornly don't rise his head.

They met like that frequently, between two dates of their solo tour. But recently, Harry looked sad. At first they were hanging with the whole gang, but then Louis and Liam had their kids to take care of and in the end it was just the two of them hitting the bars in L. A or London.  
Sometimes it was in Mullingar, and those were Niall’s favorite times. Just hanging with his favorite people in the world : his dad and his best friend.

The last time they saw each other, harry was in the same weird, brooding mood and didn’t want to go out. They spent their evening in Harry’s house, with pizza delivery and some cheesy romcom on Netflix that Niall let Harry choose, even if if knew it was the worst idea.

« Haz.. »  
Niall’s hand squeeze harry’s knee, not getting any reaction from the youngest.  
« Haz come on, look at me. »

He reach an arm to Harry’s face, and the other boy waste no time nuzzling his cheek into Niall’s palm.

« Everything’s alright pet? »  
Harry let out a contented sigh.  
« No one has called me that for a long time. »

He closes his eyes as Niall’s fingers caress his cheek.  
« I hope so! I am the only one allowed to call you pet! »

Harry’s quiet laugh is one of Niall’s favorite thing. The way his lips stretch to reveal his perfect whites teeth, the way his dimples dig into his cheeks and his eyes wrinkle.

« Sometimes I wonder how life would be if we weren’t.. Us. Famous. I can’t even remember how it’s like to go outside and buy a pint of milk at Tesco without being followed by half dozen of girls and paparazzis. »

Niall trace Harry eyebrow with his thumb.

« I know what you mean babe. I don’t think our life will come back to ‘normal’ one day.. Or maybe when were old and gray and not making good music anymore.»

Niall feels harry. They will never be normal guys anymore. Their life took another turn with the X-Factor.

Harry look so sad in this instant that Niall would do anything to cheer him up.  
Green eyes lock with blues.  
« Thank you Ni. For being you. For being here. »  
Harry kiss Niall’s finger softly.  
« Anytime pet, anytime. »

Their relationship was always like that. Very intimate, even if it was platonic for the most part.

 

 _If you go_  
_If you go your way and I go mine_  
_Are we so_  
_Are we so helpless against the tide ?_

 

They stay like this for a while, before Niall spoke up again.  
« How’s Los Angeles ? »

Harry let out a snort and fold his long legs under his butt.  
« Horrible. Sunny. Crowded. »

Niall drops his lukewarm beer on the coffee table.  
« Yeah, I fucking hate this city too. » he snickers.  
« Hate ? But.. But you bought a house there too! » Niall cast a look sideways.  
« Yeah, because I wanted to be closer to you. » He admits.

Being far from harry when they started their solo career was too painful. Skype and phone calls weren’t enough. Niall went to L.A whenever harry was there too, even if he definitely liked more the peace and beauty of London.  
They grew up together. They became adults together. They were sharing absolutely everything everyday, for years on.  
Now that they were going solo, it was hard to be alone. Niall tried to keep himself busy all the time to make the days go faster, but it was harder for Harry.

Harry didn’t know how to live outside a community. He quickly missed the constant noise around him and the little to no privacy. He couldn’t sleep at night in the silence of his bedroom and music became the only thing that kept him sane.

Louis and Liam were building families, Zayn was gone, Niall was having the time of his life golfing, but Harry.. Harry felt lonely.  
At least Niall was trying to keep in touch everyday and to come see him in Los Angeles.  
He couldn’t bear being alone, and he couldn’t bear being with fake people that pretended to be his friend in L.A.

« Pet? You spaced out. »

Harry shake his head and smile.

Niall ask quietly :  
« What would you do right now if you were a totally unknown, normal, free, 24 years old ? »  
He rise from his comfortable place on the sofa and take one of Harry’s hand in his.

Harry shrug and raise his head towards Niall, looking like a small sad child.

« I don’t know.. I don’t even know how it’s supposed to be like.. We haven’t really been teenagers remember ?" 

« Yeah that’s true..But we had another kind of fun, and that was an amazing experience »

Harry agreed with that. They travelled the world with their best friends, making music.  
Nothing could compare to that.

Niall thread his fingers in Harry’s long hair.  
«  You didn’t answer the question babe. What would you do ? »

Harry looks at the vinyl turning in its place, the album finished long ago.  
« I’ll.. I’ll probably go for a walk on the beach. Just.. Breath some fresh air and watch the tide you know.. Have five minutes of peace in all this madness that is life. »

Niall smile and pull Harry’s arm towards him, making the other boy get up from the sofa too.  
« I think I can arrange that. »

Harry rise an eyebrow.  
« Ni, it’s 3.AM. Don’t make anything stupid after midnight, that’s our rule ! »  
Niall chuckle.  
« And that’s a fucking stupid rule ! Alright Cinderella, let’s live a little. You can wait until this morning to turn back into a pumpkin! »  
« It’s the carriage who turn into a pumpkin, not cinderella ! »  
Niall smirk.  
« Whatever you say princess, put your glass shoes on and let’s go ! »

 

 _Are we ready to be swept off our feet ?_  
_And stop chasing every breaking wave_

 

Niall sits behind the wheel while harry falls asleep in the passenger seat.  
His face pressed against the window, his long legs bended awkwardly and Niall fears the younger is going to wake up with a pain in the back.  
The Irish hums softly to the sounds of an old Fleetwood Mac song, because harry always says there’s no good road trip without Stevie Nicks.

He feels really happy to have harry by his side again, to spend time with his best friend.  
He’s greatful for the love they share and thinks about all the times he wanted to have more with Harry but also feared that it would ruin what they had. Because their relationship was so precious to him, he wanted to cherish every minutes of it. Every words, every looks, every moments they shared.

They thought about it, but never acted on it.  
Harry had expressed his feelings quite well, but Niall never thought it would be a good idea while they were in the band.

Now, being with him after weeks of separation, made him ache for more.  
He wanted to keep harry smiling and happy every time.  
They couldn’t be together before because it would have caused so much drama, but now they where going solo and everyone had their own life, maybe they could give it a try. He wanted to give it a try.  
Maybe the time had come. He would be the luckiest man on earth to wake up every morning beside Harry.

 

 _I thought I heard the captain’s voice_  
_But it's hard to listen while you preach_  
_Like every broken wave on the shore_  
_This is as far as I could reach_

 

The wind hit his face, and it’s surprisingly not cold for an early morning.  
The sun hasn’t risen up yet, and it feels great to Harry. Being in his favorite place in the world, with his favorite person ever.  
He takes a deep breath, focusing on Niall arms around his waist and close his eyes, allowing his surroundings to disappear for a minute.  
Niall’s head rest on his shoulder, the salted scent hitting both their noses. Harry reckon it’s his favorite smell I the world.

Not far from them is Brighton’s peer, and Harry look a it for a while, until Niall catches on and take him by the hand.  
They cross the beach to join the wooden deck. It looks like it’s out of a dream, just standing above water, isolated from the world.

It’s closed, and even if the white fence is not that tall, Harry looks at it like it might bite him.  
Niall smirk and let go of Harry’s hand to jump over, landing gracefully on his two feet on the other side.  
Harry looks at him bewildered.  
«  Ni ! It’s bloody closed ! »

Niall let’s out a throaty laugh at the brunette’s reaction before asking  
« So what, Styles ? Afraid of a little trespassing ? »

Harry is hesitate a moment before jumping over, landing almost on Niall’s white sneakers. He can hear the Irish man muttering « baby giraffe legs » as he regains his footing.

They walk side by side up the peer, to the sound of their shoes beating the wood. They pass a few whites benches who seem the have seen better days until they stop to watch the view.

Harry watch the waves crashing back and forth on the stony beach, while Niall hunched over the barricade.  
« So… On a scale from one to ten how is it ? »  
« Perfect… »  
Harry grab one of Niall’s hand, lacing their fingers.  
« Thank you, I really needed a moment like this.. »  
« I can tell. You’re not being your usual self lately. Haz.. You know I would do anything to make you feel better, absolutely anything. »

Harry nods before tugging at Niall shoulder so they can be face to face.  
A few centimeters appart, both felling each other’s breath on their skin.  
Harry looks at Niall dead in the eyes, tipping down his head a little so their noses brush lightly.  
Niall close his eyes as their foreheads touch. « Anything.. » Harry breaths.  
« Anything. » Niall nods.

They don’t know who initiate the kiss first, but it’s hot and heavy, it’s light as feathers and sweet as candy. Their lips slowly dancing together, sometimes roughly, sometimes incredibly smooth. They both feel the electricity travelling through their bodys.

It’s not their first kiss, they tried a couple of times before and never hided their attraction for each other, but it was never the right time.  
Touring as a band wasn’t the right time, family dinner at Louis's hiding in the corridor wasn’t the right time, on the set of Dunkirk after all lights were out wasn’t the right time.  
Maybe kissing on Brighton’s peer was the perfect moment.

Harry’s hands gripping at Niall shoulders, while Niall is taking Harry’s face in his hands to hold him in place ? Perfect.  
The butterflies in his stomach an the seagulls shrieking around them? Perfect.  
The heat of the early sun rays ? Perfect.  
Harry couldn’t ask for a better moment, a better place.

« Are we going to try this, this time ? For real ? »  
Niall ask after they break the kiss, his eyes filled with love and hope.

« Do you want to ? I’m high maintenance you know that… »  
Harry is looking at him with so much emotion in his beautiful green eyes, like he's afraid of the answer.  
« I’m wiling to risk that. I’d risk anything for you haz. »  
« Anything ? »

« Anything. »

 

 

 

_Are we ready to be swept off our feet?_  
_And stop chasing every breaking wave_


End file.
